{"id":1029,"date":"2014-05-22T08:00:41","date_gmt":"2014-05-22T13:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/?p=1029"},"modified":"2018-06-26T12:04:31","modified_gmt":"2018-06-26T17:04:31","slug":"5-ways-to-avoid-online-scams","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/5-ways-to-avoid-online-scams\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways to Avoid Online Scams"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Monitor-fire.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1548\" src=\"http:\/\/www.stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/Monitor-fire-150x150.png\" alt=\"keeping your computer safe\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Ever since the Internet has been around, so have scammers. The Internet is a convenient way to shop and make purchases in the confront of your own home, but it&#8217;s important to understand the risks so you can do so safely.<\/p>\n<p><strong>If a website looks suspicious, it probably is.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When online shopping, be aware of a website\u2019s design and layout. If the site is hard to navigate, the design looks funky or there are a lot of pop-ups, don\u2019t enter your card or financial information.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Avoid hyperlinks in emails.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Scammers send emails encouraging the receiver to click on a hyperlink that directs them to enter their banking information through a website or form that might resemble a bank\u2019s. If you receive an email like this, even from an established contact, ignore it.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Be careful with mobile online shopping.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Most people forget that phones can get viruses too, and phishers can retrieve your information through online shopping done on mobile phones. To avoid this, use the retailer\u2019s app or wait until you can use a secure computer.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Don\u2019t share your social security number online.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Rarely ever do legitimate businesses ask for your social security number. If they do ask for it, call a representative or walk into the business- never share your SSN online.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Strong passwords are key.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The stronger the password, the better. Make sure to also use a variety of passwords across your accounts so if one login is jeopardized you won\u2019t have to worry about other accounts being at risk.<\/p>\n<p>Think you\u2019ve been hacked? Check out <a href=\"http:\/\/stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/11-ways-to-tell-if-youve-been-hacked\/\">11 Ways to Tell if You\u2019ve Been Hacked<\/a> to see if your computer is showing some symptoms.<\/p>\n<p>For more advice on avoiding online scams, visit <a href=\"http:\/\/money.usnews.com\/money\/personal-finance\/slideshows\/10-ways-to-avoid-online-scams\/7\" class=\"external external_icon\" rel=\"nofollow\">USNews.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ever since the Internet has been around, so have scammers. The Internet is a convenient way to shop and make purchases in the confront of your own home, but it&#8217;s important to understand the risks so you can do so &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/5-ways-to-avoid-online-scams\/\">Read more <span class=\"meta-nav\">><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[192],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-it-tips"],"yoast_head":"<title>5 Ways to Avoid Online Scams - Stratosphere Networks IT Support Blog - Chicago IT Support Technical Support<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.stratospherenetworks.com\/blog\/5-ways-to-avoid-online-scams\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 Ways to Avoid Online Scams - Stratosphere Networks IT Support Blog - Chicago IT Support Technical Support\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Ever since the Internet has been around, so have scammers. 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